Effective Natural Remedies for Chalazion

Just want to share my continuing success with using a cotton ball lightly soaked with apple cider vinegar (with “the mother”) to cure my upper eyelid chalazion: held directly onto the closed eyelid for about 10 minutes 2x a day. Nothing else seemed to be working but in only 3 days my chalazion is softening and diminishing with the acv.

Hi there,

Thanks for boosting my optimism! I haven't seen an eye doctor yet and have been lackluster with my efforts, hoping it would go away on its own. My lower eyelid has a small chalazion but it makes the length of my eyelid appear swollen. I never experienced any draining that people have described. I remember feeling a hard nodule almost immediately and that has never gone away. I'm assuming it's fibrous tissue that scarred right as the chalazion formed. Do you think castor oil would work to break that hardened tissue down, or just to help drain the contents within a blocked chalazion?

Castor Oil for Chalazion

+1 on the Castor Oil! I tried it based on the recommendations here. I put one drop directly on the nasty little lump and it loosened and drained that night. (I must say that the draining was a little gross looking)

Hi Steve, thanks for your message. How do you put the castor oil and how much do you use? many thanks

Just wanted to thank you for your post. I'm new to all of this Chalazion stuff and have been struggling for 5 weeks with 3 of them. My eye swelled completely shut with the onset of two of them in my right eye. I've been feeling down as well and like a freak, and sad to not look pretty with eye makeup. I read your post and the prayers to God about your eye. I felt it was a Godwink reading your post. As I wasn't sure which way to go. Im a Doterra essential oil rep and I have a bottle or two of frankincense. I used it right away and feel hope which was lost before I read your post.

My 5 year hard chalazion is completely gone! I put a half and half oil mixture of organic castor oil and organic tea tree oil on my entire eyelid and did a hot compress twice a day over the mixture on my eyelid on the spot of the chalazion. Once in the morning and once at night. Then I would put a mixture of 1 cup water to 1 teaspoon of organic apple cider with mother on my lash line with a qtip. I let that dry then I put some Similasan Stye Eye Relief Drops in my eye (you can buy on amazon or CVS/Walgreens/Walmart). I then let my eye dry from the eye drops and then proceed to put the half and half oil mixture of organic castor oil and organic tea tree oil on my lash line (don't get inside of your eye).

Do everything I mentioned twice a day every day and you will see results it may take a long time but my 5 year hard chalazion is completely gone. It took almost a year for it to go away completely it was hard and had been there for five years.

Chalazion takes a long time to go away, especially if you've had them for over a year and it's hardened. So be patient and continue.

How much water did you mix with the capsule?

There seems to be some confusion on which eye drops to use. My husband just saw an eye doctor about a chalazion. The key to selecting the right eye drop is to get one specifically for allergies. The doctor gave us samples of a prescription allergy eye drop called Alrex. I just searched online and quickly found two over-the-counter natural allergy eye drops: Similasan Allergy Eye Relief and Opcon-A Allergy Eye Drops by Bausch & Lomb.

Also, be aware of that if you've already been using a prescription antibiotic eye ointment, there's a good chance you've developed an allergy to it and you need to stop using it and get an allergy-relief eye drop. (This was my husband's case.)

I also love the activated charcoal suggestion. I have inexpensive capsules that can be opened up and used with distilled water to form a poultice.

One last thing, regarding the suggestions for using various oils, I develop styes any time oils get near my eyes, including castor oil, flaxseed oil, etc., so oils may not be good for all of us.

Update to my post from last year. It was the first time in about 8 years that I didn't have to get on an antibiotic for this! I do have the beginning of one now (pollen season again) and am hopeful it will

Subside with heat ;Bruder mask with disposable liner) and the ACV with the mother. The reason I'm posting though is that the propensity to get the chalzion is way down since I started an antihistamine (Claritin or store brand) and Zaditor eye drops! It's amazing as from April

On I used to do heat 4 times a day and was constantly in the verge of a chalzion. Now I do heat occasionally and wear glasses and usually a hat when outside, we'll worth it! . I got the chalzion this year because yesterday I was outside without sunglasses and then didn't do hear in the evening even though my eye felt a little iffy.

Hope this is helpful to someone! The Claritin and zaditir were a game changer for me!

I have found lots of success using activated charcoal and bentonite clay along with press n seal to keep the poultice on where ever my issue might be. Using either one or both is good for reducing inflammation and pain as well as drawing out the infection.

AC can be bought in capsule form usually at the local drug store. A binder is always needed with it. Bentonite Clay also can be bought in capsule form but might be easier to find online. When ever I use a poultice I try and change it every few hours.

Reply to bpang (fairfax, VA):

I applied the TTO ointment to the complete eyelid (actually both eyelids) a couple of times a day (it does not need to be a thick coating- just enough to cover the area) and certainly when going to bed to let it work overnight. I found it might sting slightly as it acted on the infection but that only occurred on the first application and only lasted a few minutes at most and indicated to me that it was indeed attacking the infection. I continue to use the TTO ointment and TT antiseptic cream interchangeably for any eye, ear, nose, and other skin irritation with great results. In all these situations the problem issue is resolved within a day or two.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your suggestion, Jay! Could you let me know how many times do you apply TTO ointment? Also, did you apply it directly on the chalazion or on the lashline/eyelid margin?

It's not exactly the same, but when I had a sty, I used coconut oil and colloidal silver. Twice a day, morning and night before bed I washed my face, and got a clean cloth really hot under the water and used it as a compress, three times for about a minute or until it's cooled down a lot. Then I got a pea sized dab of coconut oil and rubbed it over my eye and let it penetrate inside too (makes your eye blurry for a minute or so, no worries), then I put a drop of silver inside my eye. It cleared up the sty and I now do that every few months to keep my eyes healthier and unplugged.

Regarding the chalazion that's been there (on the upper eyelid) for 3 months:

I have found that a Tea Tree Antiseptic Cream or Tea Tree Oil Ointment works best for this problem. These both have a very low percentage of actual Tea Tree Oil, so they are both safe to use around the eyes. The problem is usually cleared up within 2 or 3 days with multiple daily applications of the treatment.

What worked for me:

Tea Tree oil IN STEAM ONLY:

Heat up water on stove, when it begins to steam put a comfortable amount 5 ish drops of tea tree oil in the water, Put towel over your head, CLOSE YOUR EYES and lean into the steam so fumes permeate around eye. When smell dissipates, add a few more drops and repeat.

Mine was a sty I had for over a month and this cleared it in 2 days.

I have a massive chalazion that's been there (on the upper eyelid) for 3 months. I've tried everything (heat, massages, ACV) nothing seems to be working! It is higher up at a distance from my lash line and seems to be growing from within the eyelid-is that why the ACV application isn't working?

I tried ACV for 5 days- it just burnt my eyelid and created 2 huge red marks on my eyelid. Haven't noticed any drainage yet.

Any advice or at home remedies would be greatly appreciated!

My 5 year chalazion is almost gone. Nobody or I can see it anymore by looking at my eyelid. I only know it's there still by putting pressure and touching my eyelid with my finger. This is what's working for me:

I do a hot compress twice a day. One in the morning and one at night followed by putting a mixture of 1 cup water to 1 teaspoon of apple cider on my lash line with a qtip. I let that dry then I put some Similasan Stye Eye Relief Drops in my eye (you can buy on amazon or CVS/Walgreens/Walmart). I then let my eye dry from the eye drops and then proceed to put an half and half oil mixture of castor oil and tea tree oil on my lash line (don't get inside of your eye).

Do this every day twice a day and you will see results it may take a long time but my 5 year chalazion is almost gone. I've been doing this remedy for months now and it's slowly going away. Chalazions take a long time to go away especially if you've had them for over a year and it's hardened. So be patient and continue at it!

The Salt Water Rinse worked!

I had my chalazion for a couple of months and was trying different cures on and off (ex: ACV, castor oil, colloidal silver, etc) Nothing was as effective and fast as the saltwater rinse.

I did the saltwater rinse two to three times a day using an eyecup. Now my chalazion is hardly even noticeable and it's getting smaller every day. Thank God!

My recipe

1 teaspoon of sea salt dissolved in 1 cup of water. This recipe will last about a week.

I hope this helps anyone else with this problem. If not, everyone is different, so keep trying different natural remedies. Above all trust in God, He will guide you to the right cure.

You're supposed to dilute the apple cider vinegar with water. 1 cup water to 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar.

Did u put apple cider vinegar inside the eye? I have a painful chalazion inside the eyelid very close to the nose. I am so terrified. Please help.

This is really interesting because I suffered with styes for about five years (whilst also having tummy issues) getting one probably once a month/ every other month and then I stopped eating gluten for the tummy reasons for two years and I never had one single stye!

I tried gluten again 3 months ago and it seemed fine on my stomach but since I have had 2 styes one being very big maybe I need to annoyingly cut gluten out again then.

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try this method in with my other method I'm using. I've had a chalazion on my eyelid for 5 years now that has hardened without redness. The chalazion has gotten smaller over the last 5 years but it's still there. I recently just started back consistently doing hot compress at least 5 times a day with a heated eye mask from Amazon and massages to it and mines also has started to split off into very tiny lumps that seem to be dissolving (the original lump is still there but it looks a little smaller). I'll update this in a couple of months if it worked since I know that Chalazions are very stubborn and I've had mines for 5 years so it will take some time to go away completely.

I had surgery to remove chalazia in both eyes when I was in college. A few years later, one recurred, and there was no way I was doing that surgery again. While it was still in the tender phase I began using crazy hot compresses and pushing/rubbing qtips rolled in a mix of Dawn dish soap and hot water onto the bottom of the tarsal/lid plate (where the glands express). I did this with great vigor, like a Kennedy who really hates eye problems. After about two 15-minute rounds the chalazion spontaneously began to drain from its pore. It clouded my vision, and I'd never been happier for something to do so. I went to a budget meeting on the editorial board of my college newspaper, pressing on that thing just draining it in front of everyone. Truly a sight to behold.

Key is attacking them promptly. The puss oil will harden eventually, and at that point, surgery is the only real option. I used dish soap because it is the strongest surfactant I knew my eye could tolerate on a temporary basis. I do believe that enough hot soap water finally pushed up the pore into the blockage, which gave way.

During pollen season I seem to get at least one huge chalazion. In years past even though I did the heat and black tea bags, they would just swell and swell and I'd end up taking antibiotics.

This year on day 1, I read on this site about ACV with the mother and did it 4 times a day plus once waking up in the middle of the night to apply it.

Each time I did heat for about 10 minutes (Bruder eye mask is great) followed by 4-5 minutes of a Q-tip dipped in ACV with the mother. The ACV seemed to really take the infection out. It's 3 days later and not gone but is improving well. I"m so relieved and thankful for the other writers who wrote so I'm adding in my experience. Hope it helps you too.

My husband had a decade old chalazion on his upper eyelid that had hardened without redness despite trying everything natural under the sun when it first appeared and at intervals subsequently. At one point of sustained natural remedies, the lump appeared to develop a slight split as if divided into two adjacent smaller lumps. Another time along the way, I applied raw local honey along his lashline and felt guilty as he developed a small chalazion on his lower lid just below the upper lump. It wasn't a stye as it never went away. Finally, last year, he was fed up and ready to seek surgery but came across an article in www.eyeworld.org connecting Dermodex mites (present in all people) to chalazions so we decided to give one last-ditch treatment.

I mixed castor oil (the old-fashioned type in a glass bottle from the Indian store that has been used safely in eyes for centuries that I happened to have) with pure teatree oil in a dropper bottle and after his morning shower, I applied 2 drops to his clean knuckles which he held together for me and he then touched his knuckles together to disperse before swiping one knuckle across each respective lashline of both his closed eyes to avoid cross contamination as the chalazion was only on his left eye. He also used his knuckles to massage the mixture into his lashlines.

At night before bed, he used Opti-Soothe mask (from pharmacy) for two consecutive 20mins after heating 20secs in the microwave following by the same oil-on-knuckle treatment. As stated in the article, after 12 weeks the chalazion disappeared and has not returned after four months.

Wish we had known this remedy before as over the decade, we wasted time and money on doctors every time it became embarrassingly conspicuous after other natural treatments just to be prescribed eyedrops that made no difference and referral to opthalmologist who recommended best to leave it alone as it may recur after surgery which is apparently very painful.

Can you reccomend which ivermectin paste you bought? Was it from Amazon? I just have access to oral ivermectin as of now. When you applied the paste did the Chalazions underneath your eye pop and drain?

Would taking ivermectin orally help as well for Chalazions? I've had one under my eye for years now and I've never been able to get rid of it yet. Also the paste where did you buy it from? All I see is ivermectin paste for horses on Amazon. Thanks

I used the herb Echinacea for 2 weeks and the a bump on my lower eye lid near my tear duct. It just disappeared.

My pharmacist told me he had the same thing and to take the herb and it was gone.

Apply heat as often as you can and massage area. It will go down. Additionally buy unscented baby wipes and wipe eyes clean multiple times a day. Chalazions caused by demodex mites who thrive on oils. Keep eyes clean dry and apply no oils. Demodex are killed by tea tree oil.

Wash your hair and face with Desert Essence tea tree shampoo for a month.

You must wash your bedding as often as possible with detergent borax powder and hot dry heat.

I just got it for the first time. Going to try hot compress but it's been here for about a month now so don't know how effective heat will be. Wish me luck.

Can triphala reduce a lid chalazion?

ACV will stop the itch a bit. Chalazions often come with a demodex mite problem.

Look for posts under demodex eye mites.

Use a heat pack, it will break up the hardened area. Use this multiple times a day. It does work, ask me how I know :)

To treat the mites which cause the inflammation, you will need to use diluted tea tree oil and lavender at eyelash base for about 6 weeks.

You need to change your bed linens, especially your pillow, several times a week. Wash in borax and dry high heat to kill mites.

You do not want to use any oils for dilution of teatree oil and lavender except for MCT or fracionated coconut oil. Eye mites feast on face oils and applied oils! You must keep your face very clean - use only aloe as moisturizer!

Should I rinse the Apple Cider Vinegar or wipe it after some time?

Often the cause of chalazions are demodex mites.

If this is a constant battle for you, search demodex mites my posts.

Heat and massage will reduce them but you must get rid of the cause!

Much appreciated! I'm going to try this asap. I've been dealing with these for 15 yrs.

I had enormous chalazions for the first time this year. They are often caused by demodex mites. Hot compresses do work, but now you must treat for mites.

Demodex mites love oily skin, face oils, face cream, eye makeup. Discard your eye makeup! You must start washing your face with tea tree oil which eliminates the mites. This is a process as it will take a month or more to eradicate them.

You will use only aloe gel as moisturizer. To a quarter size blob of aloe gel add one drop lavender essential oil or tea tree. These oils eradicate mites.

Use a sulphur soap, or PetMd Benzoyl shampoo which has sulphur, benzoyl peroxide and salycylic acid as shampoo and face wash.

Your bedding must be washed in hot water and with detergent and borax. Make sure you dry on high heat. Rotate your pillow cases everyday.

Diet! Mites love dairy. Eliminate! Ask me how I know!

if you cannot get mites under control you might try a pinch of borax in 16 ounces of water see if that helps, if not, then ivermectin might be in your future.

I found that hot compresses 3× daily, along with application of castor oil (especially at night) quite helpful. I did go through a period where I took 2 T. of ACV daily, and applied it to the chalazion with a Q tip as well. This burned and caused the chalazion to crust and peel. I'm not sure if that was ultimately helpful.

In the end, I continued applying the castor oil to the chalazion and to the water line of my upper eyelid. Additionally, the action I believe most helpful, was the gentle pressure and washing of the eyelash area and upper water line (my chalazion was on the upper eyelid). I eventually tapered off the compressed after 1.5 months. I never thought it would go away. It was gone completely within 2.5 - 3 months. I prayed daily, and believed that the probiotic wash which I used to cleanse my upper eyelash area and the water line would heal the chalazion.

The ACV may have helped cleanse my system (I took 2T a day for a week, and the application to the chalazion, and getting it to crust may or may not have been helpful.) To this day, I continue the gentle eyelash and waterline cleansing. Nothing my doctor or opthamalogist prescribed or suggested helped. There are many probiotic washes on the market. Johnson's Baby Shampoo may be a viable option as well.

Best of luck to all of you struggling with this issue. It will go away when you find the solution that works for you. I persisted and researched weekly - with prayer! God bless all of you.

I had same issue as Tron below. All of a sudden monster chalazions in eyes. Doctors said they were just styes. Found info on démodex and read many papers about what works against them.

Hope this helps others:

• One ounce tin
• vaseline - this will cover and drown them
• 4 drops tea tree oil
• 4 drop lavender oil
• Melt Vaseline add essential oils and stir well.
• Pour into container.
• Apply everyday and night.

With the petroleum salve with tea tree and lavender, you only need to swipe your finger and get scant amount for your lashline. You do not need to goop up! If you have applied too much wipe off with a tissue.

Make sure you use different hands, tissues, wipes for each eye you do not want to transfer the little bugs over to another eye.

Sulphur soap is helpful as demodex hate the smell BUT it will dry your face out. You can buy it on Amazon.

Additionally helpful to me was to use Desert Essence Organics Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo - you can take the cap off and add additional tea tree and lavender oil. Wash your hair and face. This shampoo is for oily hair so it can be drying to hair and face.

Wash your bedding in detergent and borax in HOT water. Your pillow case wash as much as humanly possible and use HOT heat.

Buy unscented babywipes for your eyes. Amazon Basics or Costco.

Throw out your eye makeup and do not wear any until condition clears or you will make it worse.

My doctor didn't even know about these things or my ophthalmologist!

I had several bouts of chalazions and tried many remedies, tea tree seemed one of the best in soap form, if u are careful not to get it in the eye itself.

After many eyelid bumps and doctors saying it was blepharitis etc, I stumbled on an idea that it might be an over abundance of demodex folliculorum. I recalled then when they first appeared... it was after inspecting my uncle's dog who had mange on his tail.

Mange is caused by the same mite!! So long story a bit shorter.... ivermectin!! Obviously do your own research but I ordered some in a paste took the amount one would take for other diseases it is prescribed for tropical parasites....And Voila!

Gone after 2 plus years of these things....I occasionally dose myself maybe every 6 months but the little critters that apparently live on everyone's skin can proliferate given the right conditions and lead to many things including chalazions.

Had a HUGE stye that turned into a chalazion and I was going at it hard with the hot compresses (4-5 times a day, at least 15 minutes at a time). This only made it get bigger. One thing to keep in mind is that heat increases sebum (oil) production in hair follicles, including the follicles of lashes. This can cause the follicles near the chalazion to clog up and impede drainage.

There's a good chance my follicles were already clogged by the huge stye my chalazion started out as. The excessive heat didn't help matters. Anyways, I decided to lay off the heat, just applying a compress twice a day, for 10 min at morning and 10 min at night.

I use the eye mask you can put in the microwave—it stays warm and you can easily re-heat. I bought mine from an optometry clinic but you can probably find one on Amazon. Anyways, I reduced compress use to 10 minutes at morning and night, followed by gentle pressure with cu-tip against the chalazion (as well as rolling it down the cyst toward the lash line).

In between doing this, so about 5 times a day, applied Apple cider vinegar with the “mother“ using a cu-tip. Dipped q-tip in vinegar, touched it against Kleenex so it wasn't dripping wet, then rolled q-tip over cyst and massaged gently into cyst, for about a minute. Got as close to the lash line as possible without getting any in my eye.

Chalazion is gradually shrinking (took a few days to notice a difference) and the lash follicles near the chalazion that had been filling with oil are draining as well.

In addition to the vinegar it's probably important to not overdo it with the heat. Too much heat also likely causes some inflammation and swelling which will just keep the silly thing from draining or make it worse. I would suggest at least try going down to warm compress 2-3 times a day, 10 minutes at a time, and use the vinegar.

It is absolutely working for me!!

All those warm compresses, tea bags and massage did nothing for my chalazion. But Apple Cider vinegar made a HUGE difference in 2 days. It's now day 4 after ACV directly on a qtip about 4 times a day and it's almost gone. Thank goodness for this site - I was considering surgery since this little bugger wouldn't respond to anything else, and hearing people's terrible experiences made me try this as a last resort. TOTALLY WORKS! Use organic acv with the mother, I just put a few drops with an eyedropper and hold/wipe for a minute or two and then done!

My daughter had Chalazion for the past 2 years. I tried everything from consulting the doctor, putting warm compress, certain vinegar remedies found here. But none of these worked effectively. Now I see that in last week the chalazion shrinked and it is completely gone completely. I think it is some kind of natural process it needs some time.